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5 Tweets That Got People Fired

16 Jan 2017

Be careful what you tweet as your employer might well be reading through…

5. Accidental Chrysler Tweet

A contractor for the automobile company, Chrysler, made a rather costly mistake after he released a tweet poking fun at Detroit drivers on Chrysler’s official twitter account. Detroit is known as “The Motor City” and while stuck in traffic on Interstate 696 in Detroit, the Chrysler employee tweeted out, “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to f*ck*ng drive”. Unbeknownst to him, the Chrysler contractor tweeted this on Chrysler’s official Twitter account as opposed to his own personal account but the damage was already done. He was fired as a result and Chrysler later apologised saying, “Chrysler Group and its brands do not tolerate inappropriate language or behaviour, and apologize to anyone who may have been offended by this communication.”

4. Sexist Fireman Tweet

A firefighter from Toronto by the name of Matt Bowman, got into a bit of heat after he made a series of misogynistic remarks on his Twitter account. The first tweet being, “Reject a woman and she will never let it go. One of the many defects of their kind. Also weak arms.” The second tweet wasn’t any better as he tweeted out, “I’d never let a woman kick my ass. If she tried something, I’d be like HEY! You get your b*tch ass back in the kitchen and make me some pie!”. Needless to say, instead of dealing with a fire, the firefighter dealt with a firing for his sexist and derogatory comments.

3. Boston Marathon Bombing Costume Tweet

A 22-year-old woman from Michigan by the name of Alicia Ann Lynch became subject of a widespread backlash after she tweeted a photo of herself, dressed up as a Boston Marathon bombing victim with the following caption: “And the most offensive costume at work goes to…#toosoon?”. The 22-year-old woman can be seen smiling in the picture wearing a blue marathon shirt with the number 739 along with fake blood and wounds on her head and the rest of her body. Many were outraged by the insensitive tweet as the Boston Marathon bombing saw three civilians killed and around 264 injured. Lynch received numerous death threats and even threats of rape. Things took a turn for the worse when her personal details were leaked online including her home address and even her parents’ phone number. Lynch deleted all her social media accounts, however, later re-opened them in order to apologise. Unsurprisingly, she was fired from her job, which she revealed in a tweet, saying “I have been fired from my job. I am paying for what I thought was a simple joke. I know it was wrong now. I wasn’t thinking.”

2. ‘High’ School Teacher Tweet

A 23-year-old ‘High’ School math teacher from Colorado by the name of Carly McKinney was fired from her job after she released a series of tweets boasting about smoking marijuana as well as possessing it on school grounds. She posted these tweets under the name “Crunk_Bear”, crunk meaning to get crazy and drunk. One of the tweets read, “Naked. Wet. Stoned.”, while another read, “Watching a drug bust go down in the parking lot. It’s funny cuz I have weed in my car in the staff parking lot.” Not only this but several images of her smoking marijuana were posted on her Twitter account in addition to numerous revealing photos. Shortly after these tweets were discovered, the 23-year-old math teacher was fired from her job. I guess she can add up where she went wrong there.

1. Racist African Joke Tweet

Justine Sacco, a PR consultant for InterActiveCorp, was at the centre of a Twitter storm when she tweeted out a single racist remark that she deemed was funny. Shortly before boarding a flight to Cape Town, South Africa, Sacco tweeted out the following, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Thousands online were furious over the tweet and the hashtag “#HasJustineLandedYet” started trending worldwide. Sacco soon deleted the tweet as well as all of her social media accounts, however, the damage was irreparable. Although Sacco issued an apology for her distasteful comment, that did not stop her from getting fired from her job.